The Jackson Family Online

It has been a very busy last couple of days…Washington D.C. is a place where you could easily spend a couple of weeks and still not see everything. I tend to pride myself as a person who shows up at a city and takes it all in but…their will be a lot left for a later trip on another time with older children:). Still yesterday I took the girls by metro to the Spy Museum. It was really pretty cool, it had all of the spy gadgets that have actually been used over the years and what I enjoyed most was reading about the actual real life spies that have changed history. Everytime a president makes a major decision he goes to “intelligence” (the info and secrets we’ve learned from other countries) to then make his decision. I’ve always enjoyed the whole James Bond thing…so this just took it  to the next level. The girls got some cool spy tools from the gift shop. Eye glasses that look like sun glasses but actually have a mirror in them so that you can see what’s happening behind you and some ear pieces that they can walkie talkie back and forth to each other with. Lydia and I tested them out yesterday at The Ellipse, the grassy field in front of the white house…had a lot of fun. Washington D.C. is known as the city with the most spies in it in the world…when we walked down the street it was too cute when Lauren came up to me and said “Mom…that guy had a ear piece in his ear.” She was sure we had stumbled onto a real spy:). The rest of the gang took in the Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum but it was obvious to me that my kids were only going to do so much of that kind of stuff so…we did the spy thing, ate lunch and then Lydia and I hopped into a bike cart and were whisked away to The Old Post Office where we did some much needed souvenior shopping and visited Ben and Jerry’s. It was so good to just relax with her and simply hang out in D.C. together. Lauren went to the Natural History Museum. We also got to see the front of the white house and took lots of pictures. What a surreal life they must lead. Then we all came back to the house and tried to recover…if you haven’t been to D.C. just know that it involves an unbelievable amount of walking!! And the heat and humidity are both off the chart. Thankfully our house is nice and cool. We all collapsed in bed fairly early so that we would be bright eyed and bushy tailed to go to the National Zoo today. We enjoyed watching the workers give an elephant a bath…that thing was more cooperative than a lot of children would be…of course snacks were involved, but still. Then we also took in a Sea Lion show and saw many various other animals. The lion was especially entertaining and a God thing as it didn’t look like it was going to appear and unknown to me Lydia was standing there praying for it to come out and as she did in walked the Lion…he even roared a little. So awesome for her to have her prayers answered in such a special way and we were all reminded of “Aslan”.

Now we are back at the house and will be going out at 7pm on a night tour of the monuments. SHould be a nice relaxing ride, just our family on an air conditioned bus. We have two days left in D.C. and I think one day we are going to go to Arlington and maybe Georgetown and the other to Union Station and go out and Ride the Ducks. Their are a ton of other museums we could visit but truthfully you can only take in so much.

Funny note…I got on the bike cart with Lauren today at the zoo…had the same guy pedaling the cart as I did yesterday, as big as this city is that seemed interesting, it was a completely different area. I told him that I would see him again tomorrow…who knows maybe I will.

We’ve been having a good time, seeing new things, making memories with family, etc.  I’m grateful that we were able to come. Yesterday Bruce called and it sounds like things are getting closer to being finished all the time…ceramic tile comes in next week…I’m curious to see it soon. Also will be glad to get it finished, I know it will be well worth it in the end. I sense that soon I will be shifting gears…back to school…it’s been a great summer!

Hope your day was great!

Love,

Ruth

Well it’s been a great first day in D. C. Woke up early this morning and just sat out on our front porch, it was nice and peaceful…first person I saw called out…”hey, do you have a cigarette…” o.k. so it wasn’t a good morning but…it was still nice to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. Then we headed out on a whirlwind tour of D.C. We saw an unbelievable amount of memorials, monuments and various other places in the four hours that we had our guide. WOW!! This place is so filled with things to see and take in. It was incredibly hot and humid so Lydia was dragging but we made it through so that’s good. Our tour guide was great, incredibly knowledgeable about everything. Tonight some of us went back into D.C. on the Metro and took in the sunset parade at the memorial where the soldiers are holding up the flag (Near Arlington), I should know the name of it but…I’m not quite sure, Iwo Jima or something like that…. It was amazing hearing the marching band from the Marines play and then watching their silent choreographed movements…wow talk about precise. We even got to keep some of the shell casings from the guns that they shot off during the ceremony. Pretty cool. Well..actually they were the casings from the before the show practice but still cool. My neice Jaimie even got a marine autograph:)…she is 17 so that explains that one:). My two girls stayed back at the house, they needed some time to just hang out, so they had down time with a couple of their cousins and Aunt Amy.

Tomorrow we are headed back downtown, The girls and I are going to go to the Spy Museum, Eat lunch at the Old Post office and then go to the Natural History Museum. Should be a fun day…it’s supposed to be hotter tomorrow…ugh! Glad we will be inside for most of it.

Wierd tidbit of the day…did you know their is a lady who has been living on the sidewalk across from the white house for 27 years…she’s been in protest that long and literally has set up residence there. As long as she doesn’t leave her shack area for more than an hour a day they can’t do anything about it…How bizarre and what a life!!

I have to tell you…after the events of the day tonight I’m going to bed feeling proud to be an American. We have a lot to be proud of and I so appreciate the sacrifices of those who have protected us over the years. The Vietnam memorial was powerful, the Korean war monument as well.

Hope your day was great!

Off to bed…
Ruth

Hello…tonight I’m writing from Washington D.C. we drove 10 hours today to get here through some very beautiful countryside. We’re staying basically right in a city area in a neighborhood that we rented a house in. Very interesting…you know when you look at a place on line and book it you don’t always get a clear picture and while the house is great the neighborhood has definitely been a cultural experience. Reminds me of the year I taught in the inner city. Us 13 dennings people definitely stand out. The tom tom saved us again today as we got into the city and suddenly became lost…I can’t say enough about how much I have come to appreciate that thing. So…we arrived, settled ourselves, found a subway and had some cultural experiences there, and then us girls went grocery shopping, so we should be set for the week. Tomorrow a bus is picking us up and we get to see all of the monuments in Washington. I am so looking forward to enjoying the view and not having to think about directions, traffic, etc. Should be a great day! Lots of pictures…which reminds me…you all would be proud of me or should be…my scrapbooks are completely caught up…Out West trip and all. Feels good. I mean I know I’ll have another bunch of pictures from this trip when I get home but still…I hate getting behind like I did. And as much as I enjoy traveling and taking time to live life to the full I feel it’s equally important for me to be able to have it in a form where we can easily look at the pictures and remember the things we did together, otherwise we so easily forget.

Friday I talked to my contracter and the house seems to keep coming along…we had one bit of distressing news as we found out that one of our cats had disappeared…we figured she must have gotten out while they were working on the house. No one had seen her since Wednesday. The people taking care of the cats had even called animal control, and drove all around the neighborhood looking for her…Lauren was sad as it was her cat. However…today we got a call from Bruce and when the guys got to work today at my house they heard a cat meowing and discovered that somehow Daisy had gotten behind the dry wall they had put up last week and was stuck in the wall…How she got there no one knows and how she survived the heat and no food and water, etc. amazes me but they were able to get her out of the wall and Lauren was thrilled to hear that her cat is still alive…a little traumatized I’m sure.

Hope everything is going well in your neck of the woods.

Love,

RUth

It’s been a week since I last blogged. Hard to believe…somehow I think your lives are probably moving along just fine without my daily entries:). Anyway, the girls had a great week at horse camp. Lauren faced her fears and did just fine in fact she looks like a pro on a horse at this point. It was so good to hear the compliments their counselor had to share with me about my girls. I mean I think they’re great kids but when other people think so too…well that’s always nice. Then we moved right into family camp and have been staying in a motor home for the past four nights. It’s worked out really well. I’ve heard some great messages this week from various pastor’s, I knew I would…camp for me has always been a time for me to get recharged in my walk with God and interestingly enough it’s always been a time where my commitment to be yielded and surrendered to His will for me is deepened. The girls are also enjoying their activities immensely. Lauren’s group is talking about “Beauty” this week, comparing what the world defines beauty as compared with how God defines it…seems a very fitting topic for my 11 year old. Lydia has been sick for a couple of days this week, developed a fever/headache and so she laid low for a couple of days at the camper. Seems to be bouncing back now. She told me…”Mom, I can’t wait for heaven”. When we’re sick that is our heart’s cry isn’t it.

Tonight I had the honor of having a missionary couple that I have long respected and looked up to come up to me and tell me what an inspiration I am to them…I don’t tell you this to be prideful…that’s not the feeling at all…actually I tell you because it deeply humbled me…I am amazed at how God is and has used and will use my life to bring honor and glory to Him. I saw the ladies retreat brochure that I’m speaking at and was humbled again…that people would care to come to a retreat to hear my story. Truly amazing and humbling…Tonight’s focus at camp was on obedience to Christ, and I have to tell you that whole issue rings true to the deepest part of me. Obedience to go if I should go, to stay if I should stay, to wait if I should wait. The response tonight involved praying specifically in one of these areas “go”, “Wait”, “stay”…I stayed in my pew, not because I didn’t feel God speaking to me but more because I feel Him saying all of those things…I feel Him calling me to stay in my teaching job…it’s my mission field…one that at times I think about backing out of, I feel Him calling me to go…spending more of my “vacation” time in service…and I feel Him telling me to wait…I’m wading through the whole area of my personal life and what my future might or might not hold if someone came into my life…more specifically a man. But more than anything I found myself crying in the pew realizing that at the core of me more than anything I just want to be obedient to God…that’s been my driving heart’s desire since I was a child truthfully and sitting at camp tonight brought back all of the times I have recommitted my life to God at a campmeeting altar. You know…because of my desire to be obedient…as imperfect as I am…I’ve been able to experience God’s kingdom right here on this earth…I’ve been able to experience Shalom, God’s peace at a time when I know if it was all about who I am…I wouldn’t be. More and more I just desire to not only be like Christ…but to have Christ completely inhabit my being…I don’t want to just model my behavior after my savior…I want Him to live and move and breath within me, til their is less of me and more of Him.

We’ll be done camping this weekend and then Jim and Amy, Mary Anne and Larry, and families, and me and the girls will head for Washington D.C. on Monday. I love camp and I’m so glad I came. It’s been so nice to spend time with family. The girls are having an awesome time spending time with their cousins…in fact they and their cousins all wish they lived closer together…

Mary anne’s husband Larry got a job this past week which was an awesome answer to prayer!! And Amy has had good results lately from her doctor appointments that deal with her cancer which is more awesome news! We rejoice with those who are rejoicing…a concept I’ve been trying to work on with my two girls lately. I have had a few people come up to me over the past year or so that have been “healed” and express their questions about why they were healed and Mark wasn’t on this earth…maybe it’s like survivor guilt or something…I have no easy answers for why some are healed here and some are not but I do rejoice with those who are rejoicing. And…I understand that this life is not about me, not about what I want, not about my dreams, plans, goals, etc. It’s about simple obedience to God. I do believe that in the process…God does bring our dreams to life, that whole concept of dying to truly experience life…it’s something we really can’t comprehend but I know it’s true. I believe that even Mark’s death involves obedience on my part and it did on Mark’s part as well. So…I end by just saying that when I worship and praise God, when I declare His goodness it’s in those moments that I feel most fully filled by Him, Ruth’s goals, plans, desires, etc. are out of the way…and God is alive in me. I’ve found that’s exactly where I want to be. My job is to be yielded and still…when I am I sense “deep calling to deep”.

I hope your past week has been wonderful. And that you are sensing God’s presence in your life. You never know who all you are influencing…it’s really not about you…is it?

Love,

Ruth

Well this is only a three night vacation in Charleston but I feel like I’m maxing every moment completely:). Of course I can fit in a lot more being child free this week than I would with the girls…they would’ve been complaining about all the walking, shopping, etc. but that’s what has made this week awesome for me!! I’ve now gone through six historical homes, all very unique and special in their own right. It’s been awesome to walk on some of the most grand staircases I’ve ever walked on and to realize the history that I’m walking through. I’ve also done a ton of shopping!! I even bought a giraffe skin purse today, a little radical for me but I decided, why not:). And just for fun I threw in a hair cut today at a barber shop:). They looked at me a little strange when I walked in as they mainly get men customers but…I was in the mood and it was cheaper there than at a hair salon. So…I got a cut. Then I had the urge for a boat ride, just needed to feel the wind and the mist I guess. So I found a water taxi, purchased a round trip and road in the Harbor for an hour…even saw some dolphins which was awesome!! I’ve now purchased ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s and Haagan Daz…must still go to coldstone tomorrow before heading out. And Lori, even before I read your comment I purchased a “drink” at Haagan Daz, great minds think alike I guess.

Tomorrow I think I might take the carriage ride in the morning before heading back to the airport to fly back to Michigan. I have to tell you I have completely loved Charleston and hope to bring the kids back here at some point…makes me all the more excited to go to Savannah at some point. I did discover today why the houses look so nice while I was getting my hair cut. The owners are required to get permission before they paint their houses or do any work on the outside and literally are given choices of colors they can use and then must sample the paint and have it approved before they can paint. While that might all be incredibly tedious for the owners, the effect for the tourist is amazing! I have taken tons of pictures of the porches/piaza’s…wow they are amazing, and the trees and flowers, the windows, the entry ways, the church steeples…wow!!

Some have wondered why I chose Charleston…their’s no big reason, I know no one down here but I’ve not let that stop me so far:)…I just wanted to choose a place where I knew once I was staying downtown their would be plenty for me to see and do in walking distance. I just kind of guessed that Charleston would be that kind of a place and fortunately for me it has been. I’ve walked and walked…no idea how many miles but it seems like a lot, in fact today I purchased a different pair of shoes, my other ones were leather and had gotten wet and had rubbed a sore area on my foot…so dog gone it I had to get new shoes:). So I’ve done the typical lady thing…bought shoes and a purse…Mark would’ve just shook his head and grinned.

I’ve just finished reading a magazine about 100 great vacation places by Life…so my mind is filled with all kinds of ideas for future trips:). I looked over the VISA application today and realized that is going to take some serious time, thought and effort…but I am going to follow through on it. So tomorrow I head back to Flint, and then on Friday I pick the girls up from horse camp after their shodeo. Then we move into a motor home to camp for a week at Covenant Hills Camp. That should be fun and relaxing. I’m hoping to get my scrapbooking caught up, I have the pictures/brochures/etc. all cut out and in order chronologically so now I just need to place them in the book. I have finished journaling in the girls books so they are officially finished which is a good feeling.

Wow this summer I have traveled a ton…it’s been awesome and I’m not even done yet…I’m still heading to Washington D.C. in another week…I’ve gone as far west as I can go, I’ve gone just about as far north as I can go and now I’m pretty far south and you can’t go much farther east than D.C. I guess this was my summer to travel!!

I talked to Bruce yesterday and my shower has arrived and they are working on the electrical, air conditioning, heat, etc. They have now made the entrance from my kitchen to the sunroom…so major changes when I get home…yeah!! I think I’ve decided to have him change my kitchen counter top, faucet and light fixture too…You know how it goes…with time it’s easy to think of a few other things that would be nice. I have a feeling that next summer could be my summer of painting…we’ll see.

Anyway…it’s been a great time away. I’ve done and seen so much and also had time to relax in my room…last night I watched two movies just for fun. I’ve looked at magazines for leisure and enjoyed that and I’ve even written out my goals and plans…I need a list..I’m just that kind of a person. So…it’s been good. Hopefully tomorrow’s airport experience will be a little kinder to me than on Monday:)…I’m going to print off my boarding passes tonight, I do learn from some of my mistakes once in awhile:).

Hope your day is going great. And I hope you and your family are having great travels and vacations as well. If you’re out at camp next week stop in and see me at lot 212…it’s up on the corner of the playground, across from Jim and Amy’s trailor.

Love,

Ruth

When the girls and I traveled out west in June I enjoyed visiting all of those places but often told the girls that I wouldn’t really want to live there…well…after a day in Charleston, I can tell you this place calls out to me and I could live here if the job/circumstances of life were right. I have had the best time walking, and walking and walking today, it’s been hot and incredibly humid (even more so than in St. Louis!!), and I even got rained on for awhile but wow I love this place. I walked down to the water front, the harbor that surrounds Charleston and I knew it was going to be a good day right off when I saw swings by the water front. Now that’s my kind of place, I’m a swing on the front porch kind of girl and then to add water…well that was awesome! The houses are beautiful, just the entry ways alone are amazing and the trees and flowers are incredible and unique. St. Louis has some unique homes and I enjoy those too but in Charleston it’s not like you have two nice homes and then the rest of the block is ready to be condemned like a lot of the neighborhoods in St. Louis that I’ve looked at (at one time Mark and I thought we would move into St. Louis when I was teaching in the inner city so we looked at a lot of neighborhoods and houses). In Charleston almost all of the houses are amazing and I absolutely love the windows, floor to ceiling, and the porches, they have another word for them like Piaza or something but most of these houses not only have one amazing porch but two or three per house. Wow!! I could live in one of those houses:). I toured two old houses today. The one was really historically fascinating, the other was the Calhoun Mansion, it’s the largest private residence in Charleston that is open for the public to see. It was kind of a disappointment though. The owner is a huge collector and so he has filled every nook and cranny with his expensive collections of everything you can imagine, to the point where their is not one space in that home that felt homey to me in anyway, and he actually lives in that museum of stuff, I know it’s all really valuable but frankly to me it killed the fact that he has an amazing house. Picture every space on the wall covered with something, every surface on every piece of furniture completely covered with stuff, etc. Oh well…at least I don’t have to live there. My style is open and breezy, I love big windows, uncluttered space and beachy kinds of furniture and deco. Anyway, then I went to the Market place and that’s where I spent most of the afternoon looking at tons of booths, I was able to pick up a couple of souvenirs for the girls and for myself and even found a beautiful dress for my niece, Kendra. It was too cute to pass up:). And I scouted out not one but three ice cream places:)…Coldstone, Ben and Jerry’s and Haagen Daaz!! Yippee!! After all of the walking, shopping, etc. I finally went back to the hotel and relaxed and watched “The Bucket List”. It was pretty good and nice to relax. I’ve just come back from the grocery store and besides getting some snacks I picked up a notebook…time to think through some things tonight.

Tomorrow I’m going to head to a couple of other houses that I want to tour and then I think I may take the boat on the tour to Fort Sumnter, unless plans change. I may take a swim, catch a movie, or something else too if it seems like a good idea:). I’d shop a little more but…I do have to keep in mind this time that I have to ride a plane home and brought a small suitcase:). I did find a cool sea turtle picture frame for myself today along with  necklaces for the girls and I with a turtle so that will fit in:).

Anyway, I better run, someone else is ready to use the computer. Hope your day was great!

Love,

Ruth

Well…I made it to Charleston, SC!! Got to my hotel room last night at 10:30pm and collapsed after spending over 14 hours getting here. My plan A didn’t work out, then plan B got shut in my face, so…I went with plan C:). I had booked my flight back in February through Expedia…and I didn’t print my boarding passes out the night before as I probably should have so…when I got to Bishop airport I discovered that my flight was non-existent and that I should’ve been on an earlier flight. So…I was put on a standby list for the next flight, so I sat and read a book for three hours waiting to see if I could get on that flight. Everyone showed up for their flight so…I was unable to catch that one too. At that point I had to reconfigure my flight plans and ended up after six hours of waiting getting on a plane to Chicago to then catch a plane to Charlotte to then catch another plane to Charleston. Once I was finally airborn things started moving along:). I had been a little concerned about getting into a taxi alone to go from the airport to my hotel, just one of those wierd feelings getting into a car alone with a driver that I don’t know…but that all worked out as I actually got into a mini van that was shared by others going to my same hotel. So… it wasn’t the day I had planned and yet I’m just grateful that I arrived safely and that it was just me and not my kids that I was trying to keep entertained…that would’ve made the whole thing a million times more stressful. As it was honestly, I was at peace…I figured God had his reasons and even though I might be tempted to try and think those through…at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter. Gave me a perfect opportunity to put into real life my thinking on the fact that our job is to stay yielded and still…So…I read through a whole book, and part of another, looked through a couple of magazines and did a lot of sitting. Today…I’m ready to walk, I’m right downtown in Charleston and I’m going to shop today, look at some historical homes and see the water…at least that’s my plan…however if God chooses to change that or modify it so be it.

Hope your day is great!

Love,

Ruth

Today we’re headed to church with the Jackson family. We’ll eat lunch together and then the girls and I will head out to my parent’s house at Covenant Hills Camp where the girls are going to go to horse camp this week. We’re all packed up and ready to move on to the next location. This summer sure is flying by. This morning I woke up early, and my mind got thinking, I ended up just getting up, knew their was no point in trying to go back to sleep. Ended up sitting out on the swing in Mark’s Parent’s yard in their flower garden made to remember him and I caught up on some of my bible reading. This summer it’s been real hit and miss for me on the bible reading thing. While I do think about God, talk to God, try to listen to God everyday and have spent a lot of time worshipping God through His creation this summer I haven’t been very disciplined about time in the Word. So…this morning I read through Hebrews, some Proverbs and some Psalms. Felt good to get back into it and it made me wonder why I’ve not been making it a priority, just out of the routines I guess. Lauren was up bright and early, got ready without any prodding and was out on the tire swing, riding a bike and playing outside before the rest of the kids were even out of bed. Maybe she was feeling some of what I was feeling. I’m praying that the girls have a really good week at camp together. While I always went to church camp every year growing up, I never was able to attend the same camp as my sister, so I feel like the girls have a unique opportunity to not only have a great camp experience and draw closer to God, but to also strengthen their bond with each other. I have a feeling that by the end of the week they will have a whole host of memories that they’ve made together to further cement their relationship.

Yesterday I took the kids out for lunch with Grandma and then we went to the movies, the smaller kids saw Walle, but I took Lauren to see “Get Smart”. She’s getting to that crossover age. Last night at the family meal she even sat at the “adult” table and really enjoyed it. She’s fast growing up. Was fun to watch Wayne and Kristy interact, reminded me so much of how Mark and I interacted when we were first married. Wayne acts all tough and macho but it doesn’t fly very far…he’s such a big teddy bear and would obviously do anything for his family. A real pushover…but like I told him, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Made me feel loved again just watching how much he loves his family knowing that had I watched Mark and i from the outside I would’ve seen the same thing going on in our family. It’s all about perspective I think. We had fun watching a few leftover fireworks from the fourth of July and having a campfire together. I know it’s probably hard for the Jackson family as we rarely are all together, we’re lucky if we make it back to Michigan 2 or 3 times a year. It was nice to spend some time together and wow all of our kids sure are growing up.

Anyway, it’s just about time to run to church, so I should probably close for now. Tomorrow I will be in the air on my way to Charleston, South Carolina, I’m looking forward to the time alone. I think it will be rich…Feel free to pray for the girls at camp this week…safety on horses, making new friendships, drawing closer to each other and to God, etc. Thanks in advance!

Love,

Ruth

Good morning,

Yesterday I worked on cutting out pictures for a good part of the day and by the time I went to bed, they were all cut out. In between times I ran into Clio and Montrose and visited my sister, Maryanne and her family. I hadn’t been to her house in quite awhile so it was good to see the changes they’ve made on their house and just to have time to sit and relax and look at the pictures she had taken from the trip. Interesting how you all can be on the same trip, experiencing the same things and yet have some different pictures. Last night we had another good dinner at the Jackson home. They always have good food which always helps me understand why food was such a big deal with mark. It represented more than just a meal, it’s usually an occasion:). Melissa’s ex husband Dan came to join us, Lydia had been especially asking about him and whether we would see him on this visit. I appreciated that the familiy overall, made the sacrifice for him to come for dinner, I don’t think that happens too many times when you’re in the middle of a divorce. It’s not the same clearly but I do respect how much Melissa and Dan are trying to keep everything civil and good as possible for their kids. I think with Lydia she just was having a hard time thinking that their may be someone else in her family she would have to say goodbye to, so I appreciated him taking the time to drop in. Then we went to their church to see the Huntington College drama group put on “Godspell” I had never before seen it or had any understanding of what it involved but it was an interesting take on the book of Matthew. Very good and I could see Lauren or Lydia or both of them being involved in that kind of a group someday when they are in college.

Looks like a rainy day here today, I think I will probably take the girls out for lunch and to a movie, we’ll see. Later Wayne and his family are coming over for dinner and it will be our last family get together with the whole Jackson family on this visit, at least I think it will be. Tomorrow we go to church with them and I think we’re going out for dinner and then I need to head out to my parents house and take the girls to horse camp. Lauren is having some serious anxiety about it but with her I tend to hold to the line that I have to not let her back down once she’s said she would do something, I know when it’s all said and done she’ll have a great time. And frankly, either we trust God or we don’t so it’s given us opportunity to talk about that again. I’m not totally sure what I’m stepping into this week myself, not even sure what my plans or lack of plans will be but I’m just going to go with the flow. I’m looking forward to some time to myself, time to think through my priorities, schedule, etc. a little bit and make sure I’m on track.

Hope your day is going great!

Love,
Ruth

Hi all…

It’s been a great first day in Michigan, We took the kids to an outdoor water park just 10 minutes from the Jackson house today and they had a ball playing with their cousins. The weather was beautiful and the kids got along wonderfully. Gave Melissa (Mark’s sister) and I some great time to just visit as two single women placed there under different circumstances but yet having some things in common now that we are single parenting. This is a picture of a wonderful summer day to me, relaxing, fun, and outside:).

This morning before we left I was able to get all of my journaling done in Lauren’s scrapbook, so her book is officially done. Feels good. Tonight maybe I’ll pull out Lydia’s and finish hers. Melissa and I talked about the fact that although she’s going through a divorce and I went through a death that doesn’t sum up what we are all about at this point. It’s important to keep moving forwrad, to keep living each day…we both have kids depending on us and it’s the only good choice at this point anyway. I’m glad to see how well she is doing and happy for her! Wayne is his normal happy go lucky self. I’m not sure if it’s because he is the baby of the family or what but he just has a gift of not letting things get him down. I always enjoy time with Wayne. And Bob and Martha well they played just like kids today in the water which I know was a stretch for them, Bob even went down the big slide and this is a man who doesn’t even wear shorts in summer. If that isn’t love I don’t know what is:).

Otherwise not a whole lot going on, which is fine with me:). Gotta love summer days. I called back home and left a message for Bruce…checking in on the house but no word so I’m thinking no news is good news:).

Hope your day was wonderful as usual. They really all are good…just depends on if you have the right perspective or not, right?!?!

Love,

Ruth